In Case You Missed It: Coach Josh Easdon on his Hashim Khan Documentary

The first of Open Squash’s community conversation events recently featured Open Squash coach Josh Easdon and an intimate look into the making of his award-winning documentary, "Keep Eye on Ball: The Hashim Khan Story." 

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Open Squash’s community conversations series features community members talking about amazing things they’ve done. The next is on Wednesday, May 7, featuring Open Squash Co-Founder James Green talking about living on a boat for a year with his wife and kids. Join us! Interested in speaking? Email us!

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In case you missed it, we thought we'd round up the conversation here. 

Josh’s film, which is available to watch on Squash.Tv, chronicles the extraordinary life of the Pakistani national hero and the patriarch of a squash dynasty. It was the central focus of the evening, with Josh sharing anecdotes and insights gleaned from his seven-year journey to bring Khan's remarkable tale to the screen.

Josh started playing squash at age seven. Having majored in media studies, art history, and filmmaking in college, he also became interested visual storytelling. "I was always interested in storytelling, and I think because of my dyslexia, writing was really difficult for me and so I gravitated towards the visual aspect,” he said. “I got really into photography, and I got into filmmaking and video making and I was interested in other people's stories. So, documentaries just became kind of something that I glued onto."

Josh’s initial foray into documentary filmmaking focused on children with dyslexia, a personal connection that took nine years to complete. However, it was his deep-rooted passion for squash that ultimately led him to the story of Hashim Khan. "I needed to start up a new project. I thought, well, my big passion is squash. But I wanted it to be more than just squash. I wanted it to be something that people who don't necessarily squash can also gravitate to and be pulled in," he said.

The initial concept for the film was broad, exploring the global spread of squash in the wake of British colonialism. Then a conversation with fellow squash players steered him towards a more focused narrative. " I remember sitting down in a diner with a bunch of squash players and they were like, ‘Josh, this is too big. There are so many interesting people who play squash that, you know, maybe you could do some shorts and talk about these other things through their lives.’ And one of those people was Hashim Khan," he said.

The more Josh researched Hashim Khan, the more he realized the depth and richness of his story. "As I read more and more about Hashim, I realized that I could talk about these other aspects that I wanted to dive into. I could talk about culture. I could talk about the history of the game. I could talk about British colonialism. I could talk about this amazing person's story," Josh said. 

Tracing Hashim Khan led Josh to Denver, Colorado, where the retired champion was living. His initial contact was surprisingly straightforward. "I called them up and I said, look, I want to speak to Hashim. Is he around? And the pro said ‘no, he's at home, but I'll give you his phone number.’ So, I called Hashim, and Hashim answered. And I'm like, ‘look Hashim my name is Josh Easdon. I'm a squash player from New York, and I want to make a movie about you.’ And he was like, ‘when?’ And it was that simple to get it started," Josh said.

The evening featured excerpts from "Keep Eye on Ball," providing a glimpse into Khan's early life in Peshawar, Pakistan, and his unlikely introduction to squash as a ball boy at the British Officers’ Club. Josh highlighted the stark contrast between Khan's humble origins and the elite world of squash, a game initially "really a game for gentlemen of nature and for people who were born into the right society.”

"The British would create these garrison towns, right, for their soldiers, next to a big town, and they would create a big fort, right? And then in those places where the officers and other men would live, they would have their restaurant, and the squash was brought there, and tennis. And Hashim's father became a head steward at the officer's club. And that's how he got permission to get onto the base. And that how he learned how to play squash, because the courts there were open air. The ball would fly out of the court, and he was a ball boy. So he would go fetch the ball and throw it back in the court. And then in the middle of the day, when the temperatures were well over 100 degrees, and the officers couldn't stand it, he would go on and play barefoot and practice and that's how he learned. He would play what they he called Hashim versus Hashim, just playing these games against himself," Josh said, painting a vivid picture of Khan's self-taught mastery of the game.

The documentary also delves into the unique environment of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, where Khan grew up, a region described in the film as "just on the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan... just like a wild west up there". This challenging backdrop, according to Hashim’s grandson, quoted in the film, shaped Khan's determined spirit. 

The turning point in Khan's story came in 1951, four years after the partition of India and Pakistan. At the age of 37, Khan was permitted to enter the British Open, an event that would forever change the landscape of squash. Josh recounted the prevailing sentiment at the time: "there was a need they felt that for Hashim to come and represent. There was an Indian player that did well. They wanted a Pakistani player to do well. They asked, ‘Who do we have?’ And it was Hashim, and he was 37 years old at the time.”

The salon audience was shown footage depicting Khan's journey to the Scottish Open, traditionally a warm-up for the prestigious British Open. His victory against the reigning Egyptian champion, Mahmoud el Karim, sent shockwaves through the squash world. 

However, at the British Open, played at the prestigious Lansdowne Club in London, Khan decisively defeated el Karim again, winning in three straight games. 

"I like to have that part in there where Hashim says I beat him and starts laughing because everybody, the whole time I'm doing this is like ‘he's this cute little guy’,” Josh said. “And I was like ‘yeah, but there's another side to him too, you know?’".

This triumph marked the beginning of Hashim Khan's dominance and the emergence of the "Khan Dynasty," as he went on to win seven British Open titles and taught his brother, cousins, and sons the game, many of whom became champions themselves. Josh emphasized Khan's role as a pioneer: "Basically, after this, he became this world figure and national champion and international champion, basically Pakistan's first national sports figure and a squash champion, he started traveling around the world promoting squash and promoting Pakistan. And he would go to all these different clubs and be an ambassador. And he was kind of like a Jackie Robinson of his sport, in the sense that he was not only talented, but he had to be able to be that person that could bridge that gap in the white world.”

The process of making "Keep Eye on Ball" was a significant undertaking, spanning seven years and involving travel to England and Pakistan. Josh recounted the challenges of fundraising, noting that the project eventually received sponsorship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, granting it non-profit status. He also shared humorous anecdotes from filming in Pakistan, including unexpected invitations for tea that would often disrupt the production schedule, and a memorable encounter with a man at an outdoor market near the Afghan border, who was brandishing a machine gun. 

"But what I didn't realize was that every time we went some place and people found out what I was doing, what we were doing, they were so pleased that we were doing a documentary about one of their national heroes,” he said. “We would be asked to come in for tea and we would then fall behind in production. And it was just really beautiful, and it kind of took on its own course," Josh said. 

One particularly poignant aspect of the filmmaking process was the serendipitous meeting with a Pakistani Air Force officer who bore a striking resemblance to a young Hashim Khan. "And our flight commander, who was helping us, looked so familiar. This guy looks just like Hashim looked when Hashim was his age," Josh said. This discovery led to reenactments, adding a unique visual layer to the documentary due to the scarcity of early film footage of Khan. "I asked him, ‘would you mind if I film you and we can create some reenactments?’ and he loved it,” Josh said. 

The documentary also sheds light on the experiences of the women in Hashim Khan's family, whose stories were often overshadowed by the achievements of the male players. Josh expressed his desire to include their perspectives, noting that while Khan encouraged his daughters to pursue education, the cultural norms of the time meant his wife had limited opportunities to see him play.

Reflecting on the impact of making the film, Josh shared a personal transformation. "What changed me? I think having the responsibility of going to these places and making sure that we made the most of the moments and then afterwards, trying to tell that story. I learned about people that I didn't even know about, right? There are these whole worlds of time, pockets in time where there were these amazing people that came before me that didn't have Instagram, you now, to show what they did. The best that Hashim played could have been in his 20s, and no one saw it, except for those few people on that base. There are all these things that went before me, so I guess it's humbling in the sense that you know you must realize, you must respect what you don't know, and kind of be patient. If you are that way, then maybe you're lucky enough to then find these little golden nuggets of things. If you let your arrogance or self-importance, take you past it too quickly, you wouldn't be able to see it," he said. 

Indeed. The event concluded with a sense of gratitude for Josh's dedication to preserving the legacy of Hashim Khan. Thanks, Josh! 

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Food was deliciously provided by Omni’s Kitchen.